Device for indicating stations



Sept. 29, 1925.

T. S. GOULD DEVICE FOR INDICATING STATIONS Filed Oct. 25, 1924 0 INVENTOR 7Z52G0uld BY 5 ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

THEODORE S. GOULD, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DEVICE FOR INDIGATING STATIONS.

Application filed October 23, 1924. Serial No. 745,326.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE S. GOULD,

a citizen of the Jnited States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have inventec certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Indicating Stations, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of this invention is to provide a visible station indicating device which may be manually or electrically operated and may be moved or used for indicating successive streets and cross streets when the vehicle on which it is mounted is moving in either direction.

The above and other objects will become apparent in the description below, in which characters of reference refer to like-named parts of the drawing.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure 1 is a partly sectional front elevational view of the device.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevational view taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a partly sectioned side elevational view of the device.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral indicates the front wall of a rectangular box-like casing. A horizontal rectangular opening 11 is formed near the upper portion of the wall 10 thru which part of the interior of the ho): disclosed. The upper shaft 12 is rotatably mounted in the side walls 13 of the casing and supports a roller 14. Upon this roller, the edge of a length of flexible cloth or similar material 15 is pinioned and upon the face of this cloth at regularly spaced-apart intervals, inscriptions 16 indicating streets are formed. the letters forming the inscription being of such size as to be readily observable thru the opening 11. Below the roller 14, a shaft 17 has its ends rotatably journalled in the walls 13 and also supports a similar roller 18, to which the opposite end of the flexible material 15 is secured. The upper roller 14 has a ratchet wheel 19 secured to one of. its ends, and the teeth of said ratchet incline toward the front wall 10 of the casing. The lower roller 18 has a similar ratchet wheel whose teeth incline in a direction opposite to the teeth of the ratchet wheel 19. These ratchet wheels 19 and 20 are mounted vertical and below the lower ratchet wheel 20. A lug 21 projects upwardly from the bottom 22 of the casing and supports a pivoted bar 23 which is supported intermediate its length. The ends of said bar are provided with pivot pins, and at the rear end, a relatively long vertical pawl 24 is pivotally supported, the upper end of said pawl engaging the teeth ofthe ratchet wheel 19, the end of the pawl being normally retained in mesh with the teeth on said pawl by a flexible tongue 25 which abuts the side of the pawl and urges the same to cooperate with the teeth on the ratchet. From the same pin which supports the pawl 24, a finger ring bar 26 is suspended. The longer lever 24 is enclosed at its lower end in an opening formed in a vertically operated solenoid 39 which receives its impulses from any source of electrical energy and exerts a downward pull on said lever 24. In order to return the lever 24 to its lifted position when the solenoid has acted upon the same, a spring 40 1s provided which is connected to the roof of the casing and the upper end of the lever 24 and exerts an upward pull upon said lever to return the same to its original lifted position in which it engages the teeth of the ratchet 19. The end of the pivoted bar 23 which lies adjacent the wall 10 is provided similarly with a pin, as previously described, and this pin is adapted to pivotally support a vertical upwardly extending pawl lever 27 whose upper end 28 engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 20, said upper end 28 being normally retained in engagement with the teeth on the ratchet wheel 20 by a tongue 29, and a finger ring bar 30 is suspended from the pin which supports the pawl 27, said finger ring bar extending downwardly thru an opening in the bottom 22 of the casing and projects somewhat so that the finger ring thereon may "be engaged by the hand. A pair of plungers are slidably mounted in the side wall of the casing which lies adjacent the ratchet wheels 19 and 20. The uppermost plunger 31 is provided with a conical head 32 and projects inwardly and is so positioned that when the head 33 on the stem of the plunger 31 is retracted, the conical head 32 on said plunger engages the side of the pawl lever 24 and urges the upper end of said pawl lever out of engagement with the teeth on the ratchet wheel 19. The lower plunger 34 is of the same construction as the upper plunger 31 and its conical head 32 engages the pawl lever 27 at a position intermediate its length and urges said pawl lever out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 20 as indicated in Figure of the drawing when the head 83 mounted on the stern oi the plunger 34 is depressed. The rear wall of the casing provides sustaining wall for an upper flexible blade 36 which has a curved tree end engaging the upper peripheral surface of the roller 1% and a lower sin'iilar blade 37 which engages the upper peripheral surface of the roller 18.

The device herein described is adapted to be supported upon the end walls on railway coaches oi various types and the casing is sufficiently large so that the sides and front wall 13 and l0 respectively, may be used as space for advertising n'iatter. The street at which the train is to stop indicated thru the opening 11 and means tor changing the readin seen thru the opening 11 is electricall operated. lVhen the train is proceeding in one direction, the pawl lever 24 is actuated ly energizing the solenoid 39 which raises the said lever 24, the latter rotating tne ratchet wheel 19 which is attached to the roller i l. Vi hen the solenoid is cnergizcth the lever i l is pulled dowuwardlv and the upper end of said lever engages the ratchet wheel 19, the latter rota ed counter-cloclcwise. lVhen the lever is at its extreme lowered position, the same is li'tted u 'iwardljv by means ot the spring atter which the solenoid is again energized to duplicate the operation. in reciprocatingthis pawl lever 24 in the prescribed nranner, the upper plunger 31 must be in the position inc icated in Figure 1, that is the head 33 thereon shou d be "tally extended so that the conical head 32 on the plunger 3 does not engage the side of the pawl lever hen the pawl lever 2 is in engagement with the ratchet wheel 19, the opposing pawl lever 2? siould not be engaged with the ratchet teeth on the lower wheel 20 and, for this reasoin the plunger 34' is depressed and positioned as shown in Figure 1, in which the pawl lever 27 is shown out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 20.

hen the train is proceeding in the opposite direction, the plunger 3!- is extended so that the pawl lever 27 is urged into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 20 by the tongue 29, and the upper plunger 31 is depressed so that the conical head on said plunger serves as a cam and engages the pawl lever 24': to spread the latter away from and out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 19 and supported on the upper roller Ll after which movement for rotation of the rollers is made possible by alternately li't'ting and lowering the finger ring 30.

I claim z- 1. A device of the class described comprising a casing a pair ot' sha't't supported rollers in said casing, a flexible material secured to said rollers adapted to pay out on one roller and talre up on the opposite roller, a ratchet wheel on the upper roller having teeth facing in one direction, a ratchetwheel on the lower roller having teeth facing in an opposite direction, a bar pivoted intermediate its lengtln pawl levers pivotally supported on said bar and engageable with the ratchet wheels and finger lever bars suspended from said pivot bar and adapted to reciprocate the pawl levers, means for urging said pawl levers into engagement with the ratchet wheels, and means for disengaging said pawl levers from the ratchet wheels.

2. A device of the class described comprising a casing, a pair of shaft supported rollers in said casing, flexible material secured to said rollers and adapted to pay out from one roller and take up on the opposite roller simultaneously, a ratchet wheel on the upper roller, a ratchet wheel on the lower roller, the teeth of the ratchet wheels facing in mutually opposite direc tions a bar pivoted internu-rdiate its length, a pawl lever engaging the ratchet ot' the lower roller an additional pawl lever engaging the ratchet of the upper roller, a lug in said casiirg a bar pivotedcentrally on said lug, the lower ends of said pawls being pivoted to opposite ends of said bar, and finger ring bars connected to said pawls tor manually actuating said pawls, a solenoid in said casing adapted to lower the pawl lever engaging the ratchet otthe upper roller, and a spring suspended in said casing connected to the pawl lever en; gaging the upper roller ratchet, saidspring being adapted to hit said pawl lever to the higher position.

in testimony whereof I atlix my signature.

THEODORE S. GOULD. 

